Islamic Republic Admits Vaccination Promise Failure; But Is This a Global Problem?

Kianosh Jahanpour, spokesman for Iran’s Food and Drug Organization, claims that vaccination in other parts of the world is not progressing as expected.

Mr. Jahanpour says delays in vaccination are a global problem and dozens of countries like Iran have fallen behind in vaccination.

Following the ban on imports of American and British vaccines ordered by Ayatollah Khamenei, the Islamic Republic of Iran has received vaccines from China, Russia, Cuba, and India, which according to official statistics covers approximately 1.2 million people out of the country’s 80 million population. However, the doses received are being administered slowly due to lack of proper infrastructure and correct planning.

The “Our World in Data” project, launched by Oxford University, has collected vaccination data from government sources of countries and compiled them together.

According to this data, more than 488 million vaccine doses have been administered worldwide in total, equivalent to 6.4 doses per 100 people.

The total vaccinations carried out per 100 people in Iran, however, have been estimated at 0.15.

Israel has vaccinated faster than any other country and has administered 111 doses of vaccine per 100 people. According to Reuters news agency, Israel has vaccinated more than half of its population with two complete doses of vaccine.

Vaccination in the United States is also proceeding according to plan. U.S. President Joe Biden said that by the end of May of the current year, sufficient vaccine will be available for all adults in America.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that approximately 18 percent of American adults have received both doses of vaccine. If this process continues, by December more than 85 percent of America’s population will be vaccinated.

Countries whose success was unexpected

Statistics show that in terms of total vaccinations per 100 people, the United Arab Emirates ranks after Israel, with approximately 60 percent of its population having received at least one dose of vaccine so far.

The third ranking belongs to Chile, which has attracted much admiration in advancing vaccination. This country started negotiating with various vaccine manufacturers from around the world from January and contracted with almost each company whose vaccine had been approved or was close to receiving approval. Chile also volunteered to conduct clinical trials. Appropriate infrastructure for carrying out vaccination in the country also greatly contributed to advancing this work without obstacles.

Among other countries that have been praised for properly advancing vaccination is Serbia, which did not wait for other European countries and procured more than 11 million doses of vaccine from China and Russia for its population of 7 million. This country also contracted with other vaccine manufacturers, including Pfizer, from the beginning.

Lower-income countries are more dependent on the World Health Organization’s “COVAX” program, which was launched to ensure equitable distribution of vaccines worldwide.

This program, of which Iran is also one of the participants, aims to provide 2 billion doses of vaccine by the end of the current year.

Source: Voice of America